Field goal miss is toughest I’ve had to swallow
Thursday night was one of the more difficult nights of my career.
We were 21-20 down with four seconds of the NFL season opener against the Denver Broncos left.
I had a 50-yard field goal to win it for the Carolina Panthers but it went wide left.
I was gutted because those are the moments I dream of as a kicker.
I don’t get nervous but I went too fast on the whole operation of the kick and would love to have it back.
I have made far more gamewinners in my career than lost them and thesupport from team mates and f a ns in the local area has been overwhelming.
You get negative attention too but you find most of that is online so I’ve deleted the social media apps on my phone for now.
I’m looking forward to the next game already – I’m just annoyed I need to wait another week to face the San Francisco 49ers.
Sometimes it goes your wa y and sometimes it doesn’t.
Of all the kicks I’ve missed, though, I’d probably say this one hurt the most. This was the toughest to swallow. There was no doubt in my mind I’d hit it so it was more surprising to miss than anything else.
It is frustrating but I can’t dwell on it as it’s a long season.
My star t to the season was great and I had such a good pre-season.
I know I’ll help us win a whole lot of games and what separates the great from the good is how quick ly you bounce back. It sounds like white noise on TV but you really hear the fans out on the field.
However, when the ball is snapped I don’t hear anything.
I ha d such a great game up unt i l that point . I hit a ball 88 yards so I’m not discouraged at al l, just disappointed.
I know what I signed up for when I became a kicker – I chose to be a kicker over a punter.
If I hit the kick it’s the greatest night of my career – but it didn’t happen.
Today I’ll hang out with my family, watch football and go to an amusement park and have some fun.
Then I’ll get ready for the 49ers and hope I’m in the same situation again. On to the next.